Monday's letters: The Holy Land’

Published: Monday, May 6, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 3, 2013 at 5:38 p.m.

To the editor: Your recent article on Israel’s grab of Vatican-owned and Christian-inhabited land on the West Bank is a sign of the continued hostility of Israel to Christians in the occupied territories they control.

It always amazes me how so many fundamental American Christians, who blindly support everything Israel does (as does our government, for that matter), love the secular state of Israel but despise or ignore our Christian brothers and sisters who undergo daily persecution at the hands of the Israeli government. I suspect it’s partly due to “off the wall” books like the popular “The Harbinger,” as well as a flawed reading of the New Testament, that somehow continues to convince fundamentalists that modern Israel and the U.S. are God’s “chosen people.”

Oh well, if most Christians don’t stand for our fellow believers in the “Holy Land,” we know God does. I guess that’s what counts.

Robert Johnson

Hendersonville

The Trinity

To the editor: Cosette Goebel either did not read or misread my letter. Not at any point did I attribute any words in the Old Testament to Jesus Christ other than through the Trinity.

Possibly the Trinity is either a foreign concept, or is not something everyone believes in.

What a concept that the Old Testament was written before the birth of Christ. Duh! Just maybe that’s why the dates are listed as “B.C.”

The “learned” biblical scholars quoted in the letter — are these the same theologians who spent most of their lives attempting to determine how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?

Either you accept the concept of the Trinity, or you do not. Either you believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, or you do not.

I’m finished with this subject. We could spend eternity “separating the fly specs from the black pepper,” if we were so inclined.

<p>To the editor: Your recent article on Israel’s grab of Vatican-owned and Christian-inhabited land on the West Bank is a sign of the continued hostility of Israel to Christians in the occupied territories they control.</p><p>It always amazes me how so many fundamental American Christians, who blindly support everything Israel does (as does our government, for that matter), love the secular state of Israel but despise or ignore our Christian brothers and sisters who undergo daily persecution at the hands of the Israeli government. I suspect it’s partly due to off the wall books like the popular The Harbinger, as well as a flawed reading of the New Testament, that somehow continues to convince fundamentalists that modern Israel and the U.S. are God’s chosen people.</p><p>Oh well, if most Christians don’t stand for our fellow believers in the Holy Land, we know God does. I guess that’s what counts.</p><p><em>Robert Johnson</em></p><p><em>Hendersonville</em></p><h3>The Trinity</h3>
<p>To the editor: Cosette Goebel either did not read or misread my letter. Not at any point did I attribute any words in the Old Testament to Jesus Christ other than through the Trinity.</p><p>Possibly the Trinity is either a foreign concept, or is not something everyone believes in.</p><p>What a concept that the Old Testament was written before the birth of Christ. Duh! Just maybe that’s why the dates are listed as B.C.</p><p>The learned biblical scholars quoted in the letter  are these the same theologians who spent most of their lives attempting to determine how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?</p><p>Either you accept the concept of the Trinity, or you do not. Either you believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, or you do not.</p><p>I’m finished with this subject. We could spend eternity separating the fly specs from the black pepper, if we were so inclined.</p><p><em>Joe Stanley Sr.</em></p><p><em>Saluda</em></p>